I've been a little busy these days developing a new site for launch but really wanted to get some notes out since I've been neglecting the day-to-day racing news. So I present to you, random thoughts about racing, each in 50 words or less:
-Firstly, get well wishes for both Will Power and Nelson Philippe. Good to see Philippe is already well enough to be posting Internet videos & going on Curt Cavin & Kevin Lee’s Trackside radio show tonight.
-Huge props to APEX Brasil for bustin out their third different commercial on us for the ICS race. You hear that IZOD! You can make more than a single commercial, and it’ll likely make people not hate you for said constant repetitiveness.
-Nice run by J.R. “Captain America” Hildebrand, winning the Indy Lights race by what felt like a 2-hour margin. Hildebrand should have had enough time on the white flag lap to stop on the front straight, bust out a phone, register himself on twitter, & tweet “crossing finish line @InfineonRaceway”
-No offense to anyone at the great organization of Panther Racing, but Vision/BHA Racing clearly seems to have taken their place as the newest member of the Indy Lights Big Three alongside Sam Schmidt Motorsports and AFS/AGR.
-Props to VS/Lindy Thackston and the rest for the good pre-race pieces about the wineries and the snakes. Continue to make the people of the series more personable.
-To your right is a picture of Hideki Mutoh giving the Firestone Firehawk a hand-bump. No further comment necessary.
-I spent the ICS race joining a group of IndyCar newbies from “across the pond,” here’s what I learned. IRL fans don’t have it so bad. Most of the time was spent raving about all the features and extras they got from IRL for free when F1 gives nothing.
-Can someone go more unnoticed during a broadcast than Mike Conway? Punctured tire on lap 1, then on-track passing almost the entire field to finish 3rd!Even booth/owner Robbie Buhl had a “oh wow Conway is in 3rd” on-screen moment. He’s clearly got the speed, just needs consistency.
-Here’s about all the new info we could learn about Franck Montagny from his IndyCar Series tryout: Does not have super powers that allow him to take his car over a giant pileup.
-Exactly how many different pieces/parts is a car allowed to litter on the track before they get black-flagged? I only ask because I saw Helio dropped roughly 72 different things before the car finally tapped out.
-If a pit reporter says "the car is in for the stop, getting 4 new tires, and fuel... and he/she's away" should incur an automatic penalty of some sort...
-Speaking of commentary; if Paul Tracy isn't going to be in a car for a race, he should be part of the commentation in some form; his tweets are some of the best color-commentating since Bobby Unser.
-Major un-props to the VERSUS crew. I know its not easy, and there were a lot of things out there, but never pull away from on-track action for a pitstop. Hell at least start using a plit screen for pit stops.
-I will pay good money to anyone who can provide proof that Scott Dixon exhibits the ability to get angry at anyone in his life, especially people who take him out of races.
-The Torch and The Dancer are angry at each other again (if that even accurately describes it). This is good, we need some kind of rivalry, and whether real or staged, those 2 would be perfect for some banter through public media.
-What if the race didn’t subtract 5 laps from the previous years totals? Conway made 2 passes in the final laps and was fastest on track, would 5 more laps have been enough to get around Briscoe & Dario (as Versus TV would say) Fran-shitty?
Pictures via indycar.com
Sports analysis, analytics, and overthinking it on motorsports, the Chicago Cubs, the Olympics and more...
Wednesday, August 26, 2009
Monday, August 24, 2009
Sometimes I'm going to say something stupid.
So I haven't been around lately, once again. Mainly this is due to being busy at work. But I think that I must also feel the shame of posting something so stupid!
Look, I just need to accept it. Sometimes I'm going to say things that are absolutely valid and I may predict things that may actually turn out to be true! But I'm also going to say things like this, things that turn out to be so untrue that readers must question my sanity.
However, I decided a while back that if I'm going to commit my time to actually (partially) maintaining a sports blog, then I'm going to take a stand. I'm going to pick issues that interest me, and I'm going to have opinions about them.
Let's face it: most of you are here for the racing stuff and most readers probably skip my posts anyway. But for those that do read my stuff, to me, it HAS to be more than "I heard Jack James is going to be traded to the Shoehorns and I think this fills their need for special teams help..." I don't read many sports blogs, and when I do, I want to hear someone's opinion. I love when the writer states an opinion, biased or otherwise, and then readers (also biased or otherwise) comment.
That Brewers preview was so much fun when the fans started attacking me. It made the internet a happy place for a few days. Being wrong, or having readers think I'm an idiot, is fine with me!
So I messed up. I said the Holliday deal was not as big as getting Aramis Ramirez back from the DL. WRONG. The standings alone show that. If the Cardinals don't at least make it to the World Series, then I still don't agree with their trading those prospects. (It's looking like they could've had the Central with NO moves! What a waste.)
But as the Cubs enter a series with the Nationals, and a last-ditch effort to save the season and attempt a 3rd-straight playoffs sweep, I wanted to make sure I admitted that I made a mistake. There's still another month though... who knows??
Look, I just need to accept it. Sometimes I'm going to say things that are absolutely valid and I may predict things that may actually turn out to be true! But I'm also going to say things like this, things that turn out to be so untrue that readers must question my sanity.
However, I decided a while back that if I'm going to commit my time to actually (partially) maintaining a sports blog, then I'm going to take a stand. I'm going to pick issues that interest me, and I'm going to have opinions about them.
Let's face it: most of you are here for the racing stuff and most readers probably skip my posts anyway. But for those that do read my stuff, to me, it HAS to be more than "I heard Jack James is going to be traded to the Shoehorns and I think this fills their need for special teams help..." I don't read many sports blogs, and when I do, I want to hear someone's opinion. I love when the writer states an opinion, biased or otherwise, and then readers (also biased or otherwise) comment.
That Brewers preview was so much fun when the fans started attacking me. It made the internet a happy place for a few days. Being wrong, or having readers think I'm an idiot, is fine with me!
So I messed up. I said the Holliday deal was not as big as getting Aramis Ramirez back from the DL. WRONG. The standings alone show that. If the Cardinals don't at least make it to the World Series, then I still don't agree with their trading those prospects. (It's looking like they could've had the Central with NO moves! What a waste.)
But as the Cubs enter a series with the Nationals, and a last-ditch effort to save the season and attempt a 3rd-straight playoffs sweep, I wanted to make sure I admitted that I made a mistake. There's still another month though... who knows??
Wednesday, August 12, 2009
Post Weekend Mid-Ohio Notes
Notes from a weekend in Mid-Ohio:
-Firstly, what a great weekend put on by the track!
You can truly appreciate just how much you get to see in a place like Mid-Ohio (6 different series/races: IndyCar, Indy Lights, Atlantics, Speed World GT, SpeedWorld Touring & American LeMans). The many options between camping, sightline areas, places to sit, things to see and do are so many; I would definitely recommend visiting the track for the IRL/ALMS doubleheader weekend for anyone, regardless of your track shape preference; especially if you can get out there with a group of people.
-That said, the talk is that it may have been Mid-Ohio’s largest crowd yet, and I’d believe it.
We had to get in VERY early just to get a spot on the middle of the big hill in The Esses on day 2. Packed would be an understatement, it felt like college football tailgating in more than one respect… as it also took fans, officials, and teams all about 3 hours to leave the track; mainly caused by the fact that there is only one 1-lane road leading in and out of the track.
-There are 2 things you get a better appreciation for in person than on TV.
The first is just how many more passes there can be than what coverage shows. I watched Paul Tracy make at least 2 brilliant passes on EJ Viso & Graham Rahal that didn’t make TV; some great jostling from TK & Bobby D, and much more that I never saw on the TV replay. That’s not to say all races will definitely have more action in person because the Atlantics race was terribly sleep inducing, just too spread out for good action.
-The best action, as has been the case most weekends in 2009, goes to the Indy Lights Series.
No one mails it in for this series, because it’s all young up-and-comers trying to make their presence known. We saw a position get contested in the Esses almost every other lap, and that’s not including what was happening around the track (seen on the video board). Davison may have led every lap but Hinch was giving him good runs the first half of the race until James put the smack down on the field to finish it up. And on top of the great racing, Davison gave fans something no one else did, a celebration, putting a few brilliant donuts on the inclined/turn of the Esses!
-I’ve noticed a lot of people want to blab about how boring they think it was, and its all in the eye of the beholder, but for me, they are simply not paying attention. Scott Dixon put on an f’n clinic this weekend; and on-track dominance is not a boring thing for a short term. If you can’t appreciate exactly what Scott was doing this weekend, let me put it into perspective. It was 115 degrees on the track, upwards of 97 in the air, which means it was likely 215 degrees in the cars. Most drivers were out of breath, drained & exhausted after the race. Still, Dixon wasn’t playing follow the leader with lapped traffic; he was tearing up the field (just like Justin Wilson did in the first half, only lose it on black tires). We really hadn’t seen a truly dominant performance like that in a good while.
-12 of the 13 races have produced a new points championship leader. Don’t tell me this crap is boring when to date 13 of 13 races have had BIG implications on the points championship. Dixon, Briscoe & Franchitti aren’t just coasting to collect points, (though they have been guilty of lining up in the beginning of some races), they certainly bust out the aggression in the 2nd half.
-It is surely looking like this will be the 4th consecutive year (and 7th time in the decade) that the ICS points championship will come down to the final race. Is there any other series that can claim this? That’s not hyperbole; I’m seriously asking if anyone knows any other big league series that consistently has as many tight championships as the ICS.
And my apologies but I’m going to end on 2 rants here:
-The one thing I wasn’t expecting to, but did learn by attending the race at Mid-Ohio, was just how absolutely dangerous it is to have Milka Duno on the track. Normally I’m of the, “its their money, so long as they don’t screw with anyone else” camp; but after seeing her drive this weekend, its pretty clear she is not of the “not screwing with anyone” variety.
Yes Justin Wilson even said he thought Dixon likely would have gotten by him later with a faster car, but the pick Milka set itself is not the issue. Slower traffic sets picks all the time for passing; Milka however set the pick on Justin on the outside line going into the Esses, yet ended up on the inside of the track? Dixon being heads up squeezed his car in front of Justin to cement the position but also to avoid Milka.
If Dixon weren’t as heads up as he is, he’d have plowed right into the back of Milka from her erratic lane switching, and that is where her being on the track is total BS. I watched her with my own eyes cut off other drivers upwards of 20+ times; which you never really get to see on TV. And worse, you listen to her via a scanner and it sounds like the coaching of someone’s first ever race. If she were a rookie, or she were new at the track, or even if she was just slightly off pace, I’d have no issue, but at this point in her ICS career, she has absolutely no excuse for her poor driving.
Truly, I have to give the drivers of the series huge props, because if I were out there, I’d have punted her off the course just to get rid of her, and truly I don’t know how they haven’t yet. Reportedly after practice and qualifying Brian Barnhart sent Al Unser Jr. to talk to her… oooh, big f’n whoop. Likely he said stuff to her, she said “uh-huh” and then proceeded to go right back to what she was doing before; which from watching consists of over-braking and coasting through turns instead of powering through, and constantly choosing different lines, confusing drivers behind her.
Announcers like to say “oh she moved out of the way to let them through” but I’m sorry, if you are out there only to let people pass you, what the heck are you doing out there? Tomas Scheckter would like the car back now.
-The biggest current issue the ICS has that it needs to quell before it turns into something more is the diarrhea of the mouth in the misreporting of the power boost button.
I’m going to say it now, and this goes for Robbie Buhl, Jon Beekius, Bob Jenkins, Lauren Bohlander, Mike King and every other league official & media member covering the IndyCar Series. STOP GIVING THE POWER BOOST CREDIT FOR EVERYTHING!
In the pre-race we heard Bohlander say Briscoe used push-to-pass to beat Ed Carpenter to the line in Kentucky; which he didn’t. We’ve read and heard numerous stories from the media saying the button produced action; one paper in Alabama even claimed the buttn did it all, even though their article contained clear quote from Ryan Briscoe saying he thought the vertical wicker removal gave the better action. After seeing the replay of Mid-Ohio yesterday, it was a push-button festival. At this point I think removing the button (or at least telling everyone you’ve removed the button) would be the solution, cause it seems clear the media and analysts have attached themselves to very incorrect information.
To date Will Power, Ryan Briscoe, Scott Dixon, Tony Kanaan, Dario Franchitti, Ryan Hunter-Reay, Ed Carpenter, Justin Wilson, and most recently Paul Tracy have ALL said they don’t feel the power boost is significant at all. In fact they have all confirmed that the button is exactly what it was designed to be, a slight bit of power assist when needing a little help. The button essentially has equated to a slight boost, at maximum 1mph. I’m a very non-gimmicky guy, and I have no issues with that; I think that slight bit of help is exactly what the drivers needed to help in make some passes, or catching up from a mistake.
The problem is that the coverage and media have run with “The Button” as if it gives people an additional 40 mph. All the media including Sports Center reported Briscoe used the button to beat Ed to the line in Kentucky (even its been clearly reported Briscoe was out of boosts by the final lap), the VERSUS booth is constantly telling us how many push-to-whatever-they-want-to-call-its guys have left. It’s a good thing to know, but stop pretending it has any big significance, when clearly the drivers have said it doesn’t.
To date only 2 drivers have said it was a big help: Helio Castroneves and Graham Rahal. In both cases, the drivers said they used it to recover from mistakes or to help in aiding a pass; neither gave credit to “the button” for the pass itself; they still had to draft, run a good line, and get started; this isn’t like A1GP or Champ Car where you hit the button and are suddenly significantly faster than the next guy, this is just that extra little bit you might need to help get the job done. Its like using a weight on a baseball bat to warm up, or getting an extra blocker on a play in football.
Why is this an issue? Because the league took the time to implement the boost specifically so it would not be gimmicky, because they didn’t want a gimmick. They seemed to have still wanted the drivers and set-ups to be the deciding factors of a race. Simply put, it seems clearly to have been designed to only be an assist mechanism. You’ve not heard a single driver even talk about the f’n button on their own, which means it’s mostly a non-factor, which is perfect. Why then pretend the boost is a super-powered gimmicky thing?
Every driver I have seen interviewed to this point has clearly stated that they think the removal of the vertical wickers and other downforce options are what gave them the better race at Kentucky, not the button.
I don’t know why people are latching themselves onto this notion that The Button is significant in any way, especially when the league tech people have been clear that it was not designed to be significant. Please stop before it starts convincing lesser-informed fans that the drivers aren’t as much of a factor as button strategy.
-And lastly; head on over here and check out many pictures I took over the weekend, see gallery at bottom.
-Firstly, what a great weekend put on by the track!
You can truly appreciate just how much you get to see in a place like Mid-Ohio (6 different series/races: IndyCar, Indy Lights, Atlantics, Speed World GT, SpeedWorld Touring & American LeMans). The many options between camping, sightline areas, places to sit, things to see and do are so many; I would definitely recommend visiting the track for the IRL/ALMS doubleheader weekend for anyone, regardless of your track shape preference; especially if you can get out there with a group of people.
-That said, the talk is that it may have been Mid-Ohio’s largest crowd yet, and I’d believe it.
We had to get in VERY early just to get a spot on the middle of the big hill in The Esses on day 2. Packed would be an understatement, it felt like college football tailgating in more than one respect… as it also took fans, officials, and teams all about 3 hours to leave the track; mainly caused by the fact that there is only one 1-lane road leading in and out of the track.
-There are 2 things you get a better appreciation for in person than on TV.
The first is just how many more passes there can be than what coverage shows. I watched Paul Tracy make at least 2 brilliant passes on EJ Viso & Graham Rahal that didn’t make TV; some great jostling from TK & Bobby D, and much more that I never saw on the TV replay. That’s not to say all races will definitely have more action in person because the Atlantics race was terribly sleep inducing, just too spread out for good action.
-The best action, as has been the case most weekends in 2009, goes to the Indy Lights Series.
No one mails it in for this series, because it’s all young up-and-comers trying to make their presence known. We saw a position get contested in the Esses almost every other lap, and that’s not including what was happening around the track (seen on the video board). Davison may have led every lap but Hinch was giving him good runs the first half of the race until James put the smack down on the field to finish it up. And on top of the great racing, Davison gave fans something no one else did, a celebration, putting a few brilliant donuts on the inclined/turn of the Esses!
-I’ve noticed a lot of people want to blab about how boring they think it was, and its all in the eye of the beholder, but for me, they are simply not paying attention. Scott Dixon put on an f’n clinic this weekend; and on-track dominance is not a boring thing for a short term. If you can’t appreciate exactly what Scott was doing this weekend, let me put it into perspective. It was 115 degrees on the track, upwards of 97 in the air, which means it was likely 215 degrees in the cars. Most drivers were out of breath, drained & exhausted after the race. Still, Dixon wasn’t playing follow the leader with lapped traffic; he was tearing up the field (just like Justin Wilson did in the first half, only lose it on black tires). We really hadn’t seen a truly dominant performance like that in a good while.
-12 of the 13 races have produced a new points championship leader. Don’t tell me this crap is boring when to date 13 of 13 races have had BIG implications on the points championship. Dixon, Briscoe & Franchitti aren’t just coasting to collect points, (though they have been guilty of lining up in the beginning of some races), they certainly bust out the aggression in the 2nd half.
-It is surely looking like this will be the 4th consecutive year (and 7th time in the decade) that the ICS points championship will come down to the final race. Is there any other series that can claim this? That’s not hyperbole; I’m seriously asking if anyone knows any other big league series that consistently has as many tight championships as the ICS.
And my apologies but I’m going to end on 2 rants here:
-The one thing I wasn’t expecting to, but did learn by attending the race at Mid-Ohio, was just how absolutely dangerous it is to have Milka Duno on the track. Normally I’m of the, “its their money, so long as they don’t screw with anyone else” camp; but after seeing her drive this weekend, its pretty clear she is not of the “not screwing with anyone” variety.
Yes Justin Wilson even said he thought Dixon likely would have gotten by him later with a faster car, but the pick Milka set itself is not the issue. Slower traffic sets picks all the time for passing; Milka however set the pick on Justin on the outside line going into the Esses, yet ended up on the inside of the track? Dixon being heads up squeezed his car in front of Justin to cement the position but also to avoid Milka.
If Dixon weren’t as heads up as he is, he’d have plowed right into the back of Milka from her erratic lane switching, and that is where her being on the track is total BS. I watched her with my own eyes cut off other drivers upwards of 20+ times; which you never really get to see on TV. And worse, you listen to her via a scanner and it sounds like the coaching of someone’s first ever race. If she were a rookie, or she were new at the track, or even if she was just slightly off pace, I’d have no issue, but at this point in her ICS career, she has absolutely no excuse for her poor driving.
Truly, I have to give the drivers of the series huge props, because if I were out there, I’d have punted her off the course just to get rid of her, and truly I don’t know how they haven’t yet. Reportedly after practice and qualifying Brian Barnhart sent Al Unser Jr. to talk to her… oooh, big f’n whoop. Likely he said stuff to her, she said “uh-huh” and then proceeded to go right back to what she was doing before; which from watching consists of over-braking and coasting through turns instead of powering through, and constantly choosing different lines, confusing drivers behind her.
Announcers like to say “oh she moved out of the way to let them through” but I’m sorry, if you are out there only to let people pass you, what the heck are you doing out there? Tomas Scheckter would like the car back now.
-The biggest current issue the ICS has that it needs to quell before it turns into something more is the diarrhea of the mouth in the misreporting of the power boost button.
I’m going to say it now, and this goes for Robbie Buhl, Jon Beekius, Bob Jenkins, Lauren Bohlander, Mike King and every other league official & media member covering the IndyCar Series. STOP GIVING THE POWER BOOST CREDIT FOR EVERYTHING!
In the pre-race we heard Bohlander say Briscoe used push-to-pass to beat Ed Carpenter to the line in Kentucky; which he didn’t. We’ve read and heard numerous stories from the media saying the button produced action; one paper in Alabama even claimed the buttn did it all, even though their article contained clear quote from Ryan Briscoe saying he thought the vertical wicker removal gave the better action. After seeing the replay of Mid-Ohio yesterday, it was a push-button festival. At this point I think removing the button (or at least telling everyone you’ve removed the button) would be the solution, cause it seems clear the media and analysts have attached themselves to very incorrect information.
To date Will Power, Ryan Briscoe, Scott Dixon, Tony Kanaan, Dario Franchitti, Ryan Hunter-Reay, Ed Carpenter, Justin Wilson, and most recently Paul Tracy have ALL said they don’t feel the power boost is significant at all. In fact they have all confirmed that the button is exactly what it was designed to be, a slight bit of power assist when needing a little help. The button essentially has equated to a slight boost, at maximum 1mph. I’m a very non-gimmicky guy, and I have no issues with that; I think that slight bit of help is exactly what the drivers needed to help in make some passes, or catching up from a mistake.
The problem is that the coverage and media have run with “The Button” as if it gives people an additional 40 mph. All the media including Sports Center reported Briscoe used the button to beat Ed to the line in Kentucky (even its been clearly reported Briscoe was out of boosts by the final lap), the VERSUS booth is constantly telling us how many push-to-whatever-they-want-to-call-its guys have left. It’s a good thing to know, but stop pretending it has any big significance, when clearly the drivers have said it doesn’t.
To date only 2 drivers have said it was a big help: Helio Castroneves and Graham Rahal. In both cases, the drivers said they used it to recover from mistakes or to help in aiding a pass; neither gave credit to “the button” for the pass itself; they still had to draft, run a good line, and get started; this isn’t like A1GP or Champ Car where you hit the button and are suddenly significantly faster than the next guy, this is just that extra little bit you might need to help get the job done. Its like using a weight on a baseball bat to warm up, or getting an extra blocker on a play in football.
Why is this an issue? Because the league took the time to implement the boost specifically so it would not be gimmicky, because they didn’t want a gimmick. They seemed to have still wanted the drivers and set-ups to be the deciding factors of a race. Simply put, it seems clearly to have been designed to only be an assist mechanism. You’ve not heard a single driver even talk about the f’n button on their own, which means it’s mostly a non-factor, which is perfect. Why then pretend the boost is a super-powered gimmicky thing?
Every driver I have seen interviewed to this point has clearly stated that they think the removal of the vertical wickers and other downforce options are what gave them the better race at Kentucky, not the button.
I don’t know why people are latching themselves onto this notion that The Button is significant in any way, especially when the league tech people have been clear that it was not designed to be significant. Please stop before it starts convincing lesser-informed fans that the drivers aren’t as much of a factor as button strategy.
-And lastly; head on over here and check out many pictures I took over the weekend, see gallery at bottom.
Friday, August 7, 2009
Onward to Mid-Ohio
In just a short while Mrs. Wedge, a friend and I will be taking a 7 hour road-trip to this weekend's festivities in Lexington, Ohio. What more could you ask for really? American LeMans Series, Atlantics, Indy Lights & IndyCar all in the same place for one weekend, ridiculous.
Because I'm traveling with a crew this weekend, I'll be doing things non-credentialed, so that means I won't have regular PC access at the track. So while I won't be able to give the big detailed/picture-filled updates via posts during the action, definitely look for constant updates via twitter as usual; and then look for a good ole swarm of pictures & notes for nightcaps.
Looking forward to a first trip to Mid-Ohio!
p.s. help Ron figure out the best revenge for Prince Fielder below, we've only had 1 comment/submission (albeit a very good one) so far.
Because I'm traveling with a crew this weekend, I'll be doing things non-credentialed, so that means I won't have regular PC access at the track. So while I won't be able to give the big detailed/picture-filled updates via posts during the action, definitely look for constant updates via twitter as usual; and then look for a good ole swarm of pictures & notes for nightcaps.
Looking forward to a first trip to Mid-Ohio!
p.s. help Ron figure out the best revenge for Prince Fielder below, we've only had 1 comment/submission (albeit a very good one) so far.
Wednesday, August 5, 2009
Prince Fielder: Plans for Revenge
So, Prince Fielder tried to storm the Dodgers clubhouse so he could get to Guillermo Mota. I guess Prince didn't like being hit by Mota's fastball. Hell, no one would like that. That's not cool. Prince should definitely get revenge.
But how?
You can't just charge into that man's locker room. I know Prince is a Brewer (and we all know Brewers aren't so smart) but surely we can come up with something a little more discreet to show Mota that Prince, and his fellow sub-.500 Brewers, mean business!
Keep in mind, these guys aren't even very good at playing baseball. So we need to come up with plans that will be easily carried out. Here are three simple solutions for our vegetarian homerun derby champ:
3. He could rap about Mota. You know, like Shaq did to Kobe.
2. He could get the Burger King to come with him into Mota's room and wake him with an air horn! This, of course (as the video shows), leads to late-night action with two dudes in a bed.
1. He could have Ryan Braun kneel down behind Mota and then push him over!
Any other suggestions?
But how?
You can't just charge into that man's locker room. I know Prince is a Brewer (and we all know Brewers aren't so smart) but surely we can come up with something a little more discreet to show Mota that Prince, and his fellow sub-.500 Brewers, mean business!
Keep in mind, these guys aren't even very good at playing baseball. So we need to come up with plans that will be easily carried out. Here are three simple solutions for our vegetarian homerun derby champ:
3. He could rap about Mota. You know, like Shaq did to Kobe.
2. He could get the Burger King to come with him into Mota's room and wake him with an air horn! This, of course (as the video shows), leads to late-night action with two dudes in a bed.
1. He could have Ryan Braun kneel down behind Mota and then push him over!
Any other suggestions?
Monday, August 3, 2009
Ramirez vs. Holliday
I continue to hear analysts claim that Matt Holliday was
the biggest acquisition at the MLB non-waiver trade deadline. While Holliday is a great player (as are Lugo and DeRosa who typically aren't being given the credit they deserve in these discussions) and it's obvious the Cardinals are trying to stay on top of the NL Central, I think analysts are overlooking the impact the Cubs will feel from Aramis Ramirez.
Keep in mind, the Cardinals had to give up three prospects. One of the prospects, Brett Wallace, was the team's first pick in the 2008 draft after he was named Pac-10 player of the year twice. The Oakland A's are great at making these deadline deals and, to me, easily won in this trade.
The Cubs, on the other hand, are currently benefitting from the return of Aramis Ramirez. No prospects were given up. Granted the team did give up promising SP Kevin Hart to acquire two pitchers from the Pirates, but a couple of years ago, any team would have coveted Gorzelanny. As for Ramirez, it was just a matter of waiting for him to be healthy.
So since July 24th, when Holliday played his first game for the cardinals, how do the stats compare?
Holliday: .556/3/10
Ramirez: .500/4/13
The impact of these two players seems to be pretty similar, if their personal statistics are any indication. But what about team records since July 24?
Cardinals: 6-4
Cubs: 7-3
Also pretty similar.
The most amazing statistic I have come across though is the fact that since Ramirez returned from the DL, the Cubs' offense has gone from scoring 3.68 runs per game to scoring 5.27 each contest.
I'd be interested to see a similar Cardinals statistic if anyone can find one.
Either way, only one of these teams had to give up three prospects to receive a spark from a star player. I'm glad it wasn't my team!
For more about this, see this article on cubs.com.
the biggest acquisition at the MLB non-waiver trade deadline. While Holliday is a great player (as are Lugo and DeRosa who typically aren't being given the credit they deserve in these discussions) and it's obvious the Cardinals are trying to stay on top of the NL Central, I think analysts are overlooking the impact the Cubs will feel from Aramis Ramirez.
Keep in mind, the Cardinals had to give up three prospects. One of the prospects, Brett Wallace, was the team's first pick in the 2008 draft after he was named Pac-10 player of the year twice. The Oakland A's are great at making these deadline deals and, to me, easily won in this trade.
The Cubs, on the other hand, are currently benefitting from the return of Aramis Ramirez. No prospects were given up. Granted the team did give up promising SP Kevin Hart to acquire two pitchers from the Pirates, but a couple of years ago, any team would have coveted Gorzelanny. As for Ramirez, it was just a matter of waiting for him to be healthy.
So since July 24th, when Holliday played his first game for the cardinals, how do the stats compare?
Holliday: .556/3/10
Ramirez: .500/4/13
The impact of these two players seems to be pretty similar, if their personal statistics are any indication. But what about team records since July 24?
Cardinals: 6-4
Cubs: 7-3
Also pretty similar.
The most amazing statistic I have come across though is the fact that since Ramirez returned from the DL, the Cubs' offense has gone from scoring 3.68 runs per game to scoring 5.27 each contest.
I'd be interested to see a similar Cardinals statistic if anyone can find one.
Either way, only one of these teams had to give up three prospects to receive a spark from a star player. I'm glad it wasn't my team!
For more about this, see this article on cubs.com.
Notes on Kentucky, Ed Carpenter Takes On the Evil Empire; and the 2010 Schedule
First, lets talk Kentucky
-We’ve only had one short practice and one race, but it looks like the aerodynamics changes worked. Most people want to talk about the final laps as the point of reference for proof, but that’s not where the proof lies. The proof lay on the ENTIRE race; there were 3 clear phases in the race, the beginning was racy, the middle was everyone calming down, and the end was a mad dash for position. The fact that all 3 phases were not only possible wasn't proof, but that the drivers caused them is our proof. All the oval races thus far had the cars dictating to the driver what they would do. Instead we had guys able to hook up, line up and save fuel, other guys getting racy and passing many cars, and most importantly: good cars could stay together but bad cars fell away.
-This was not artificial wing/wicker restrictor pack racing where no one could pull away, it was the perfect balance. We went half the race green and still had 12 cars on the lead lap, which sounds perfectly appropriate. More importantly cars were passing each other constantly with skill and setup moves. Most of all, one of the most critical driver, Graham Rahal, had a blast.
-The power assist button did its job perfectly as intended. It only assisted. Unlike Champ Car & A1GP where the power boost generally equates to causing the pass or non-pass; the power assist for IndyCar last night was not the ultimate decider, as we saw with Briscoe winning without anymore more boost for the final lap while Carpenter did. We saw many guys using the button to help catch up, but it didn;t always equal a automatic pass, and that's when it stops being a gimmick, and that's why I liked it.
-I’ll also contend that because the power is only a slight boost that keeping it off the screen is the way to handle the coverage. It’s like knowing a pitcher has a curveball, fastball, splitter, changeup; but I don’t need any monitor to know when it’s being used. Not all drivers even thought it was worth much, while others thought it was a big help; that alone tells me its not enough to really need to know; whether its significant or simply placebo for the drivers, it certainly got a few guys to be more racy.
-The VERSUS crew was on fire. I have not a bad thing to say about them, they were informative, funny, critical, interesting and excited in all the right proportions, it was like night and day to Edmonton, when they CLEARLY were not at the track and working with limited info and coverage.
-I’m simply amazed the race got off after all the weeping. What’s most important is Bruton Smith came to this quickly and said in 3 weeks they are spending a quick 3-4 million to fix the problem. That’s the kind of action that makes fans happy. But another interesting note: Did the lack of practice time contribute to the action? The big 2 don’t think so; in fact they thought it would help them cause they had more data for the changes to decide upon. I guess Chicago, Motegi & Homestead will help us know about better.
-Look, I'm generally an impartial guy, but who wasn’t rooting for Ed Carpenter? From casual fans, to people like me who love to be blinded by the sun (Ed's car), to my wife who was literally screaming and cursing Briscoe. In all, poor Ryan Briscoe, the guy is just trying to win a points championship but has to keep doing it at the expense of the little guys. First he took down both Justin Wilson & Ryan Hunter-Reay in St. Petersburg but now Ed Carpenter; you have to imagine next he’ll be beating Sarah in Chicagoland and finsih up in Homestead by taking Vitor to the line in Vitor’s comeback race. It was clear Briscoe had the better car, but Ed had the inside line, and that is the kind of thing racing is about.
Also wanted to throw HUGE props to Ed Carpenter for being a passing machine, he made the front half and back half of the race thrilling. For those who weren’t paying attention at the beginning, he (and Kanaan and Moraes) was passing numerous cars all over the track; in fact I don’t think he picked up a single position because of pitting. And HUGE props to the Vision team for getting Ed out in 6.8 seconds on the final stop, it was actually faster than both Penske cars, Tony Kanaan & both Ganassi cars.
All in all, an amazing race!
Now on to the schedule…
-First the good; (discounting the original schedule having Detroit) 2010 will have the same number of races as 2009. How good we have it now that many fans forget it was 4 short years ago (’05 to ’06) we dropped from a 17-race to 14-race schedule. Remember people, things could be better, sure, but they could be much, much worse; start by being thankful we have a decently large and diverse schedule.
-We finally start in mid/early March! Thank you for adding Brazil; it will be a great influx of cash for the league, but more importantly teams. And the whole thing makes sense, we have many Brazilian drivers & sponsors, and now we (fans/series) can finally give something back to the country of Brazil that has given us so much (all while still collecting a big check from sponsors). A win-win.
-Barber Motorsports Park is a good addition, and unlike many others I’m not going to attack them for not making changes to the track for passing. I know where changes can be made, and so do the drivers, but there is a perfectly fine validity to the track saying, “lets try this once before we spend a crapload of money.” They’ve said they will make changes if needed after the first year, and that makes sense; remember all we had there so far was practice, not yet have drivers tried passing. I’d like changes but I can live with a test run with commitment to making changes if necessary, especially for a track and area that will likely sell out.
-Also good: No Detroit. Many people forget it was still looming out there with its narrowness. I love the state, but that was a crappy race and no one is sad to see it stay off.
-Now the bad: We’ve lost 2 very good ovals and missed 1 potential good oval. Richmond, I understand from a league perspective; that’s ISC’s prerogative to be lazy-asses and not try and replace SunTrust as a sponsor; nothing you can do there and Milwaukee is a mess of a situation trying to figure itself out, but Angstat’s statements were the peculiar part there as the Mile situation seems to be working itself out when Terry said they won’t be added this year.
Its odd because the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel is reporting there’s still a chance, so we have no idea if Terry’s talk was a negotiation tactic regarding money they are owed. We all sure hope there is a shot we get Milwaukee back; but to close the door on any and all tracks before the current season is over would be downright stupidity, and I can only hope Terry was exaggerating.
-Now lets talk about the only, yet large, stupid decision in the entire 2010 schedule, the exclusion of New Hampshire Motor Speedway. New Hampshire’s promoter, fans, and drivers have all said they want to have a 2nd shot at making a race at NHMS work. The track had 3 date requests, 2 of which remain open, and were willing to pony up the money for the race. Why in the hell would the IRL say no, and don’t tell me worries of low-ticket sales, or logistics because both of those are BS answers.
This isn’t Las Vegas that doesn’t want in; so let that one be as it is, same as Michigan, Phoenix, Fontana, Road America, Richmond etc. This is different this is a track begging for a date and willing to pay what it takes, check in hand, and you turn it down?
Lets look at the excuses in a more discerning eye: New Hampshire attendance is not IRL’s concern so long as NHMS is paying sanction fee and there is no kind of revenue sharing going on. The IRL didn’t seem to mind racing at a half full Richmond for 9 years, so we know this half-full fear is total BS.
This decision HAS to revolve around the talk with the Gillette people for a race in the stadium parking lot, and that is, in reality, not very smart. Fans have clearly taken issue with Road/Street courses now outnumbering Ovals, but more importantly so have numerous drivers including to date: Sarah Fisher, Ed Carpenter, and MOST importantly, Danica Patrick, who is currently thinking about the possibility of leaving the series. She brings an f’n check like no other to the league, so lets go ahead and do what we can to motivate her to leave…? WTF?
Again this would all be a whole other issue if tracks were looking away, but this is the second year in a row that New Hampshire Motor Speedway has begged, with check in hand, for a date and league turned them away. Its sad, when teams wouldn’t mind more races, fans wouldn’t mind more, the league could use more money, and they turn it down.
In this young of a rebuilding state, the IRL is in no position to turn money, fans and drivers away, based on estimated fears, and the possibility of a street festival 2-3 years down the road. Many people, myself included, are waiting money in hand to buy tickets for that race, buy merchandise and talk greatly about it, and now, again, we can’t, we’re forced to talk about how stupid it was to not add the race.
pictures by indycar.com
-We’ve only had one short practice and one race, but it looks like the aerodynamics changes worked. Most people want to talk about the final laps as the point of reference for proof, but that’s not where the proof lies. The proof lay on the ENTIRE race; there were 3 clear phases in the race, the beginning was racy, the middle was everyone calming down, and the end was a mad dash for position. The fact that all 3 phases were not only possible wasn't proof, but that the drivers caused them is our proof. All the oval races thus far had the cars dictating to the driver what they would do. Instead we had guys able to hook up, line up and save fuel, other guys getting racy and passing many cars, and most importantly: good cars could stay together but bad cars fell away.
-This was not artificial wing/wicker restrictor pack racing where no one could pull away, it was the perfect balance. We went half the race green and still had 12 cars on the lead lap, which sounds perfectly appropriate. More importantly cars were passing each other constantly with skill and setup moves. Most of all, one of the most critical driver, Graham Rahal, had a blast.
-The power assist button did its job perfectly as intended. It only assisted. Unlike Champ Car & A1GP where the power boost generally equates to causing the pass or non-pass; the power assist for IndyCar last night was not the ultimate decider, as we saw with Briscoe winning without anymore more boost for the final lap while Carpenter did. We saw many guys using the button to help catch up, but it didn;t always equal a automatic pass, and that's when it stops being a gimmick, and that's why I liked it.
-I’ll also contend that because the power is only a slight boost that keeping it off the screen is the way to handle the coverage. It’s like knowing a pitcher has a curveball, fastball, splitter, changeup; but I don’t need any monitor to know when it’s being used. Not all drivers even thought it was worth much, while others thought it was a big help; that alone tells me its not enough to really need to know; whether its significant or simply placebo for the drivers, it certainly got a few guys to be more racy.
-The VERSUS crew was on fire. I have not a bad thing to say about them, they were informative, funny, critical, interesting and excited in all the right proportions, it was like night and day to Edmonton, when they CLEARLY were not at the track and working with limited info and coverage.
-I’m simply amazed the race got off after all the weeping. What’s most important is Bruton Smith came to this quickly and said in 3 weeks they are spending a quick 3-4 million to fix the problem. That’s the kind of action that makes fans happy. But another interesting note: Did the lack of practice time contribute to the action? The big 2 don’t think so; in fact they thought it would help them cause they had more data for the changes to decide upon. I guess Chicago, Motegi & Homestead will help us know about better.
-Look, I'm generally an impartial guy, but who wasn’t rooting for Ed Carpenter? From casual fans, to people like me who love to be blinded by the sun (Ed's car), to my wife who was literally screaming and cursing Briscoe. In all, poor Ryan Briscoe, the guy is just trying to win a points championship but has to keep doing it at the expense of the little guys. First he took down both Justin Wilson & Ryan Hunter-Reay in St. Petersburg but now Ed Carpenter; you have to imagine next he’ll be beating Sarah in Chicagoland and finsih up in Homestead by taking Vitor to the line in Vitor’s comeback race. It was clear Briscoe had the better car, but Ed had the inside line, and that is the kind of thing racing is about.
Also wanted to throw HUGE props to Ed Carpenter for being a passing machine, he made the front half and back half of the race thrilling. For those who weren’t paying attention at the beginning, he (and Kanaan and Moraes) was passing numerous cars all over the track; in fact I don’t think he picked up a single position because of pitting. And HUGE props to the Vision team for getting Ed out in 6.8 seconds on the final stop, it was actually faster than both Penske cars, Tony Kanaan & both Ganassi cars.
All in all, an amazing race!
Now on to the schedule…
-First the good; (discounting the original schedule having Detroit) 2010 will have the same number of races as 2009. How good we have it now that many fans forget it was 4 short years ago (’05 to ’06) we dropped from a 17-race to 14-race schedule. Remember people, things could be better, sure, but they could be much, much worse; start by being thankful we have a decently large and diverse schedule.
-We finally start in mid/early March! Thank you for adding Brazil; it will be a great influx of cash for the league, but more importantly teams. And the whole thing makes sense, we have many Brazilian drivers & sponsors, and now we (fans/series) can finally give something back to the country of Brazil that has given us so much (all while still collecting a big check from sponsors). A win-win.
-Barber Motorsports Park is a good addition, and unlike many others I’m not going to attack them for not making changes to the track for passing. I know where changes can be made, and so do the drivers, but there is a perfectly fine validity to the track saying, “lets try this once before we spend a crapload of money.” They’ve said they will make changes if needed after the first year, and that makes sense; remember all we had there so far was practice, not yet have drivers tried passing. I’d like changes but I can live with a test run with commitment to making changes if necessary, especially for a track and area that will likely sell out.
-Also good: No Detroit. Many people forget it was still looming out there with its narrowness. I love the state, but that was a crappy race and no one is sad to see it stay off.
-Now the bad: We’ve lost 2 very good ovals and missed 1 potential good oval. Richmond, I understand from a league perspective; that’s ISC’s prerogative to be lazy-asses and not try and replace SunTrust as a sponsor; nothing you can do there and Milwaukee is a mess of a situation trying to figure itself out, but Angstat’s statements were the peculiar part there as the Mile situation seems to be working itself out when Terry said they won’t be added this year.
Its odd because the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel is reporting there’s still a chance, so we have no idea if Terry’s talk was a negotiation tactic regarding money they are owed. We all sure hope there is a shot we get Milwaukee back; but to close the door on any and all tracks before the current season is over would be downright stupidity, and I can only hope Terry was exaggerating.
-Now lets talk about the only, yet large, stupid decision in the entire 2010 schedule, the exclusion of New Hampshire Motor Speedway. New Hampshire’s promoter, fans, and drivers have all said they want to have a 2nd shot at making a race at NHMS work. The track had 3 date requests, 2 of which remain open, and were willing to pony up the money for the race. Why in the hell would the IRL say no, and don’t tell me worries of low-ticket sales, or logistics because both of those are BS answers.
This isn’t Las Vegas that doesn’t want in; so let that one be as it is, same as Michigan, Phoenix, Fontana, Road America, Richmond etc. This is different this is a track begging for a date and willing to pay what it takes, check in hand, and you turn it down?
Lets look at the excuses in a more discerning eye: New Hampshire attendance is not IRL’s concern so long as NHMS is paying sanction fee and there is no kind of revenue sharing going on. The IRL didn’t seem to mind racing at a half full Richmond for 9 years, so we know this half-full fear is total BS.
This decision HAS to revolve around the talk with the Gillette people for a race in the stadium parking lot, and that is, in reality, not very smart. Fans have clearly taken issue with Road/Street courses now outnumbering Ovals, but more importantly so have numerous drivers including to date: Sarah Fisher, Ed Carpenter, and MOST importantly, Danica Patrick, who is currently thinking about the possibility of leaving the series. She brings an f’n check like no other to the league, so lets go ahead and do what we can to motivate her to leave…? WTF?
Again this would all be a whole other issue if tracks were looking away, but this is the second year in a row that New Hampshire Motor Speedway has begged, with check in hand, for a date and league turned them away. Its sad, when teams wouldn’t mind more races, fans wouldn’t mind more, the league could use more money, and they turn it down.
In this young of a rebuilding state, the IRL is in no position to turn money, fans and drivers away, based on estimated fears, and the possibility of a street festival 2-3 years down the road. Many people, myself included, are waiting money in hand to buy tickets for that race, buy merchandise and talk greatly about it, and now, again, we can’t, we’re forced to talk about how stupid it was to not add the race.
pictures by indycar.com
Sunday, August 2, 2009
Kenny Brack Wins X-Games Rally Gold
Filling in the Blanks: ____ Jackson Has Sprained MCL
"Jackson Has Sprained MCL"
This is what I saw, when looking at news headlines on my cell phone last night. I don't have a fancy i-phone or a fast internet connection. It barely shows pictures most of the time. But I can read e-mail and keep up with scores. But every now and then, when dealing with mostly text, I'll come across something like this.
Jackson has sprained MCL.
So I had to decide if I really wanted to click this link and take a 2-minute detour away from checking my twitter account. I quickly went through all possibilities in my mind to decide if any were important enough to care about. Here is my list of Jacksons and my reaction to the idea of each having an injured knee.
Michael Jackson?? Maybe he's not dead and it was just a sprained MCL! Silly doctors.
Steven Jackson?? Crap, I have him in my keeper league. This could be serious.
Darrell Jackson?? Does he still play? What team is he on? If he sprained his MCL, would anyone really notice?
Bo Jackson?? Bo knows knee injuries, but I don't think it's really news-worthy anymore. But have you seen this Tecmo Bowl video?? No sprained MCLs here:
Or how about this video with real highlights:
(I like the ref at 0:42.)
Desean Jackson?? Eh... not on my fantasy team.
Edwin Jackson?? I actually just dropped him from my fantasy baseball team.
Phil Jackson?? Who knows what this crazy dude does in the off-season. Could be a surfing accident or something.
Of course, I thought of all of these guys and not the actual Jackson with the sprained MCL: Minnesota QB Tavaris, of course. In the end, I clicked the link, based solely on the idea that it could've been Steven Jackson, star RB of my fantasy football team.
Feel free to post your possible Jacksons (and your reaction to his or her hypothetically sprained MCL) in the comments.
This is what I saw, when looking at news headlines on my cell phone last night. I don't have a fancy i-phone or a fast internet connection. It barely shows pictures most of the time. But I can read e-mail and keep up with scores. But every now and then, when dealing with mostly text, I'll come across something like this.
Jackson has sprained MCL.
So I had to decide if I really wanted to click this link and take a 2-minute detour away from checking my twitter account. I quickly went through all possibilities in my mind to decide if any were important enough to care about. Here is my list of Jacksons and my reaction to the idea of each having an injured knee.
Michael Jackson?? Maybe he's not dead and it was just a sprained MCL! Silly doctors.
Steven Jackson?? Crap, I have him in my keeper league. This could be serious.
Darrell Jackson?? Does he still play? What team is he on? If he sprained his MCL, would anyone really notice?
Bo Jackson?? Bo knows knee injuries, but I don't think it's really news-worthy anymore. But have you seen this Tecmo Bowl video?? No sprained MCLs here:
Or how about this video with real highlights:
(I like the ref at 0:42.)
Desean Jackson?? Eh... not on my fantasy team.
Edwin Jackson?? I actually just dropped him from my fantasy baseball team.
Phil Jackson?? Who knows what this crazy dude does in the off-season. Could be a surfing accident or something.
Of course, I thought of all of these guys and not the actual Jackson with the sprained MCL: Minnesota QB Tavaris, of course. In the end, I clicked the link, based solely on the idea that it could've been Steven Jackson, star RB of my fantasy football team.
Feel free to post your possible Jacksons (and your reaction to his or her hypothetically sprained MCL) in the comments.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)